


What Everyone Ought To Know About Dave (Revised Version)

by Miracle_Novelist



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anxiety, Depression, F/F, F/M, Humanstuck, Karkat Swearing, M/M, POV Dave, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Revised Version, Rewrite, Scars, Self Harm, Soulmates, What Everyone Ought To Know About Dave, because im trash, boy its rough out here, but mostly davekat, check out these babies, i hope you muthafuckin enjoy, i worked hard, oh yeah this is sort of a mystery..., so enjoy the thrills, tattoo of first words, they are all my babies, they are all trying their best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-06-17 16:39:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15465636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miracle_Novelist/pseuds/Miracle_Novelist
Summary: Dave's read those stupid soulmate happily-ever-after articles, and he finds them completely cliche. Wouldn't anyone? They're filled with guarantees and fake smiles. It's almost sickening. So there is one thing that everyone ought to know about Dave: he does not give two shits who turns out to be his stupid soulmate, even if she's hot and smart. Because there is one thing Dave knows for sure...that relationships don't last, and they are not, in any way, "perfect".Updated: IrregularlyRewritten by: Miracle_Novelist and DragonCakie





	1. Ink > Embed Yourself

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [What Everyone Ought To Know About Dave](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10093904) by [Miracle_Novelist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miracle_Novelist/pseuds/Miracle_Novelist). 



    Your name is Dave Strider, and the soulmate promise is bullshit.

    From those quizzes online that tell you what your soulmate will look like, to the fortune tellers who think they can predict when you’ll get your tattoo. Oh and don‘t forget the hypnotists who make you think you’re feeling the 'tether' but we all know that’s bullshit, and only the extremely desperate turn to hypnosis.

    And then here’s the stupid instance where the person’s already in a committed relationship when they get their tattoo...and that’s a whole headache right there. Three months later and that relationship’s thrown right out the window.

    The worst part though, you would say, are the commercials they put on TV. Holy shit they are annoying. Some of them show happily-ever-after stories of the .1% of people who get to grow old with their soulmate. Some even sell worldwide trips which ‘give you a much better chance to find the one meant for you.’ On those, you can only call bullshit once again.

    Don’t forget the mental strain on someone who’s 50 and still hasn’t gotten their tattoo. What a let-down, right? That’s why they need suicide hotlines for everything nowadays. It really fucks with people when their other half dies, either years and years into the future or right after their first encounter. What would be much more fucked up is if one died before they could even meet, or if one just flat out rejected the other. Long story short: it’s all a big mound of shit you want no part of.

    The fact is that approximately three months after you get your tattoo, you’ll meet a complete stranger who, depending on how their parents raised them and the experiences they’ve been through, may or may not turn out to be compatible with how your parents raised you and your own experiences.

    That’s it. Fate has no play in it. It’s a 1 in 1,000,000 chance that everything will turn out fine and you won’t end up hating each other by the time you turn 35 like any other married couple.

    Plus it’s excruciating when the first words your soulmate says to you sear themselves into your skin someplace random on your body.

    You would know...because it’s happening to you right now.

    You’re sitting on your bed dicking around on the computer when it happens. You’re not quite sure what the feeling in your chest is, but it’s stupid and makes you annoyed. It almost feels like you’re having an anxiety attack, but without the hyperventilating.

    After a while though, you actually start to believe you’re having a fucking panic attack and you start massaging your chest, trying to relieve whatever this feeling is.

    It just sort of gets worse and worse within 5 seconds, and the first thing that comes to mind is “fire.” It is the hottest, most painful thing you’ve ever experienced. You run your hand over your bare chest but feel nothing with your fingers. It feels like that tender sensation you get when you have a cold and keep wiping your nose, which is to say: it feels like something is rubbing your chest raw.

    At this point, you have the creeping suspicion of what this is, and that actually sends you into an episode. There are manly tears in your eyes, and your breathing is labored, to the point where if someone were with you right now, they’d probably call 911.

    It turns into lightning bolts of pure agony when you stand from your bed and attempt to walk. You’re not quite sure where you're headed, but you’re clearly not getting there with this going on. You instantly curl into yourself and lower your body to the floor.

    ‘ _This can’t be happening._ ’

    You have to grind your teeth and flex every muscle in your body just to keep from crying out. You almost do, because two minutes of breathless agony makes someone wonder if it’s ever gonna end. But slowly and surely the pain subsides a little, and you’re finally able to stand up with some minor difficulties, taking in long, deep breaths of relief.

    You reach over with a shaky hand and turn on the lamp atop your nightstand. The sudden brightness strikes your sensitive eyes, but you recover soon enough. Looking down at your assaulted chest with a strained neck and squinting eyes, you attempt to read the upside down ink that appeared in the dim light. The first thing you note is that it's some weird handwriting that looks like someone turned on the caps lock and typed in a fit of rage. After some effort, you manage to recognize the words “STRIDER” and “FUCK” printed within that giant sentence, which, in retrospect, looks more like a paragraph.

    As you sit on your bed in a stunned stupor and let your mind wander, you note that it is quite odd that the first words your soulmate will say to you would include your last name … unless, of course, she already knows you. Or your first words to her could include your name, but that’s unlikely. Your usual go-to greetings are “sup,” “hey,” and “yo,” so this situation already seems quite uncanny.

    Finally, the urge to find out what the full message says becomes too much, and you stumble out of your room towards the bathroom in a few impatient strides. Once in front of a mirror and illuminated in the bright light, you take in the new … ‘addition’ to your skin. It takes you a little while to decipher the backward text, but once you do, you don’t quite know what to feel.

    “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STRIDER SHUT THE EVERLOVING FUCK UP AND LISTEN.”

    There it is. Your soulmate mark. The sentence presents itself in all its unwelcomed glory in three lines stretched across your chest, and gosh it makes you want to puke all over and then tear it off like a sticker that someone stuck on you as a joke.

    And yet despite your silent protests, you know very well that it had only been a matter of time until it was your turn to get the mark. All of your immediate friends got theirs a while back already, leaving your lone ass to trail behind like the most epic "late-bloomer." John even met his soulmate. You’ve only met her once; 'Jade,' you think her name was. They met at some nerd convention. You don't remember which one. There's a bunch of those fricking things several times a year, and you couldn't possibly be expected to memorize all their goddamn names.

    It's a scary feeling, suddenly knowing for sure your soulmate is out there and having this seemingly harmless curse on your chest. But you know, oh you know, that in 3 months, you’ll be staring at her surprised and terrified.

    You still think this soulmate business is utter bull, but now you're a part of the said business, and you feel a knot in your stomach tightening as you think more and more about the phrase on your chest.

    Suddenly, you hear a knock on the door frame to the bathroom, pulling you from your thoughts, and look up to Dirk in the background of the mirror. Neither of you has your shades on, and you can see his eyes studying your chest. He doesn't say anything, which you're grateful for. He knows how you feel about soulmates, and he has yet to meet his too. You could say that the both of you have similar views on the whole matter.

    He raises his eyebrows, "You too?”

    You find yourself staring dumbly at him. Dirk yawns, “Git out, ‘gotta piss."

    You swallow and bypass your brother. Instead of going back to your room, you head towards the kitchen where you find Rose sitting against the cupboards with an empty bottle of strawberry vodka next to her. She’s been acting out for a while now, and you’re not about to poke the dragon unless it’s necessary. Stepping carefully over your sister, you maneuver to the fridge and grab a small bottle of apple juice. You note that you have a low number of two bottles left, which means it's time to go shopping again. One more thing to add to your list of annoyances. You accidentally kick your sister's foot on your way out of the kitchen, but she just blinks and continues to stare off into space.

    You also pass Roxy on your way back to your room. She seems to be too preoccupied with the papers in her hand to notice your new ink. College students.

    It's amazing how alive the Strilonde home is at two o'clock in the morning.

    Once you get back to your room, you sit on your bed and drink your AJ, thoughts wandering back to the sentence on your chest. You're not going to get any sleep tonight, and you know it, so you might as well pull out your computer again and dick around some more. Sadly, all entertainment is temporary, and there's only so many things to check up on internet-wise, which means that once you finish up, you're left with the contents of your mind again.

    You do everything in your power to not worry about your alleged soulmate and comfort yourself with the thought of three whole months of summer vacation. Three entire months before school starts back up again and, unfortunately, you meet the stranger you’ve resented since you were old enough to realize this shit is pointless.

    Your name is David Strider, and there is one thing everyone ought to know about you. It is that you give no shits about who your soulmate turns out to be, even if she’s hot and smart because the one thing you know for sure is that relationships, promised or not, don't last, and they are not, in any way, "perfect."

 

‹       « wha† everyøne øugh† †ø knøw abøu† dave  »     ›


	2. Oh The Uncertainty!

    A week before school starts up again, you and your siblings decide to do your yearly drive to the mall and go shopping for clothes and stationery. Getting some sweet new stuff for your wardrobe doesn't sound bad, but only two people in your family have jobs, so the budget’s not supersized. Which means you have to compromise, downsize, customize, randomize, standardize, stylize, personalize, overemphasize ...okay, this got away from you.

    “Aight, we’ll meet at the bread stand in twenty.” Dirk takes out his wallet, “Do either of you freeloaders need any extra cash,” he turns to you and Rose.

    “Rox’s got me covered,” your sister gives two drunken thumbs up.

    You shrug, “I’ll take a twen’y.”

    Dirk pulls one out and delicately hands it to you, “There ya’ go, hun, go buy yerself somethin’ nice.”

    “Thanks, kind sir, I’ll be in the porn section if ya’ need me.”

    Your brother chuckles and reaches to ruffle your hair, which you narrowly dodge. You didn’t spend an hour on it this morning just for it to get messed up two hours later.

    Dirk points to the money in your hand and then his watch, "Twenty-twenty.”

    While walking through the isles alone and browsing through what you might need, you see more people holding hands and participating in public displays of affection than usual, which, quite honestly, creep you out. You actually scoff at one couple that randomly starts making out in front of you, and they look at you confused, but you just stomp away frustratedly.

_'Whatever, It’s none of my fuckin’ business anyways. I'm not gonna waste my breath.’_

    You end up getting one big notebook and a package of pens; you spend the rest of the money getting a new hoodie.

    Once you're all reunited, Dirk treats everyone to a hearty lunch of sandwiches and coke, and you settle down together, eating in your usual comfortable silence.

    During the drive home, you guys jam out in the car, screaming the lyrics of whatever cheesy song is playing on the radio, laughing your asses off in the process. You don't often have times like these anymore, and your heart aches a bit at that thought, but that is all the more reason just to enjoy the present moment.

    As the truck drives past Prospit Street, however, your chest starts to tighten, and you slowly feel your lungs push out every atom of oxygen held by them.

_'Whoa...that’s new,’_

    Everyone keeps on singing while you have a little freakout, but once you’ve driven past that particular street, the air seeps back into you, and you’re left wondering just what the fuck that was.

    That night, after you’ve tried on your new hoodie, organized your school supplies, read the next updates for a few comics, and have gone through all of your social media sites, your mind slowly wanders back to what happened in the car. _'What in the hell was that anyway? It wasn’t heartburn, that’s for damn sure.'_ You have an itching feeling that whatever that episode was, it's somehow connected to your soulmate and for the first time in...well... _ever_ , you lay in bed just thinking about her...or him. Dirk is just as gay as Eridan Ampora, which is really saying something. You've read statistics which said that with each older brother, there comes a 33% chance that the younger one will be gay. Is that number raised if your older brother is already a Fruit Loop? You shake your head, no that only means you have a 33% chance of being gay and that is not enough for you to seriously consider anything. You, Dave Strider, are definitely, without a doubt, not gay.

    You like girls; you’ve dated girls. You don’t play for the other team, and you don’t like dick. Plain, simple fact.

 

‹       « »       ›

 

    It hits you the night before school that you’ll be meeting your soulmate soon. You stand in the small mirror attached to your door for at least twenty minutes, just staring at your bare chest, or at least as bare as it can be with the ink etched in your skin.

    “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STRIDER, SHUT THE EVERLOVING FUCK UP AND LISTEN.”

    You've read that phrase embedded in your skin many many times since it appeared, and even more during those long twenty minutes. The urge to peel, scratch, or burn it off runs through you, but you dismiss it. You’re not ready for this to go down right now.

    That night, you promise yourself you will do everything in your power to avoid this situation. Like those small 'balls of lettuce' Rose insisted you have at Thanksgiving. Fuckin’ Brussels sprouts, man.

 

‹       « »       ›

 

    Finally, the first day of your senior year has arrived, and having figured out years ago that no one gives a shit about how you look (since everyone’s too worried about what they, themselves, look like), you don't bother much with your clothing and just throw on some jeans and a hoodie. You still spend about an hour and a half getting your hair to stick in the right directions. Although, once your sister starts pounding on the door and yelling at you to hurry up in the bathroom, you begrudgingly step out to see her eyeing you up and down, arms crossed.

    “Dave, if you develop any more vanity, I’ll have no choice but to consider you a girl.” You're pretty sure this is the most sober she's been all summer.

    “Woman, Rose, not girl. I will not be treated as a minority in my own home.” You move past her into the hallway to find Dirk swinging his keys around his finger.

    “Hey Lil’ man, you wanna catch an early ride?”

    You take him up on his offer, give yourself one last look in the reflection of the television, grab your backpack, and exit the house.

    You don’t feel that pain in your chest as you pass Prospit Street this time. Thankful, you pass the whole thing off as just some random thing that happened once and never again. Maybe you ate that one sandwich too fast. Yeah, that’s it: only a weird version of indigestion. And yet the closer Dirk’s shiny black truck gets to your school, the more you feel your chest tighten again, and an odd sensation slowly seeps back into your body. You clear your throat three times before you give up on trying to talk. Looking over at Dirk, you notice he’s breathing heavily as well. You say nothing. _'Is it a Strider thing? Did Dirk have the same feeling last night too? It's probably just a coincidence, right? Maybe he had something lodged in his throat...or there's more dust in the air than usual? Does our family have a history of asthma?'_

    You're pulled out of your thoughts once you arrive at your destination, climb out of the truck, and give Dirk a quick goodbye before he speeds off.

    Standing in the chilly August air, you stare up at the two-story building for the first time since junior year, and barely a second later you hear an all-too-familiar voice calling you.

    "Dave! Hey, Dave, over here!" John is standing just outside the entrance, waving his arms up in the air. The back of your neck suddenly starts to tingle, and you get a feeling as if someone’s watching you. You look around to check for any immediate danger, but finding nothing that particularly stands out, you look back at the small group of people alongside John, your best friend since you were 5.

    There are three other people, of which you only recognize Jade, and you make your way over to them. There’s a girl about your height, with red tinted glasses and a cane. She’s swinging it around and grinning like a hyena. She’s also holding onto the arm of a freshman.Maybe her brother.  That’s what you pin him to be since he’s so fuckin’ short. _'Oh god, his hair though.'_ Ugh, it makes you wanna fish out your brush and just go to town.

    As you get closer, the pain in your chest you felt earlier changes into a more tingly sensation. Good, you were considering going to the nurse, and that would’ve been uncool. But tingly? _'Y'know what, whatever. Whatever.'_ You're sick of being confused by this shit, especially for this long of a duration.

    “Oh hey coolkid,” Jade waves.

    “Sup Harley.”

    John puts his arm around her, “We were just making plans for after school, you free?”

    “Maybe. What’s goin’ on?”

    “We’re probably just going to go get some pizza and then go to my house. Probably play some games or something?” His big oval eyes stare questioningly at you.

    “Alright, sounds good.” you look over at the two strangers, eyebrows raised. Hm... _here’s_ a girl you’ve never met before. _‘Oh shit shit shit shit shit! Is it her?’_

    “Oh, yeah!” John motions, “Let me introduce you. Karkat...Terezi...meet Dave. Dave, meet Karkat and T-"

    “Terezi. Pyrope. Happy to make your acquaintance,” Terezi butts in, grinning from ear to ear, “And dare I say...you do taste attractive.”

    You let out a small huff, relieved she didn’t say the phrase on your chest. “Uh, thanks.”

    A little confused, you give her your signature smirk with some uncertainty, relieved she didn’t say the phrase on your chest. The guy with the giant mess of hair glares at you, features heedful. He looks to be swimming in his too-big-sweater, his bony fingers clutching a phone; the rest hidden by his cuff. You note that he’s got an earbud in and isn’t really paying attention to the conversation. To be fair, neither are you. You nod casually to him when he looks over. That earns you an even more vigilant expression.

    After some more friendly banter, Terezi and the freshman go off to do their thing, and Jade takes off as well. Which leaves you with John and since you two have the same first, second, and sixth periods, you make your way to art class to start out your day.

    Once history begins, you stare out of the window, already tired from the day, and that aching feeling suddenly creeps back into your chest, startling you in your seat for the second time this day. Trying to compose yourself, you lower your head onto your left arm and breathe slowly. This time, the ache leaves as quickly as it comes, but it still leaves you shaken up a bit. ' _God, what the fuck is this? Should I go to the hospital? Should I tell John? Would he even know what to do? This shit can't just go on like this._ '

    You look over at said nerd and watch him scribbling down notes, holding his pencil in his left hand.

    ' _This new teacher talks too fuckin' fast, it's hard to understand...especially with the British accent. How the heck does John keep up with that guy._ '

    Looking on the board, you see the words Mr. English written in a calligraphy-like script. ' _He can't be older than Dirk, this kid probably just got out of college or some shit._ ' Your eyes focus back on John's notes and observe the frantic writing for the rest of class.

    The morning goes by quickly, however, and before you know it, you’re sitting between John and Tavros at the lunch table you guys claimed as your own back in freshman year. There’s a lot of new faces including the two you met this morning, Jade, and that one stoner guy who says ‘motherfucking’ all the damn time.

    You spend the lunch period minding your own business and only talking when spoken to, which isn’t a lot.

    You only really start paying attention when Jade stands up and tries to excuse herself. John, however, is not done talking. He keeps lightheartedly questioning Jade even when she excuses herself. You see the unsure look on her face as she stands up and tries to leave. Of course, Jade being the nice girl she is, she continues to answer his introspective.

    John has always gotten carried away with conversations. Maybe that’s why you and he are such good friends.

    Your fifth period turns out to be Photography, which is located in a dark classroom in the creative wing and is your favorite class by far. The only problem is that your chest feels like a semi just ran it over with not one, not two, not three, but four of its tires. Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. Almost like a heartbeat ...oh wait, that is your heartbeat, dumbass.

    You sit through class introductions trying to breathe properly and squeezing the sides of the desk through the ebb and flow of tingling. You feel like you’re going to throw up.

    Because of the bullshit going on with your body, you don't really feel like Gym today, but since you'd rather not fuck up your grades this soon in the year, you stick it out. At least John's in that class, which means you won't be entirely fucked.

    As you walk into the locker room, you guys talk about skipping seventh hour and getting slushies. (Which you obviously wouldn't do; you just like the idea). You chuckle at the thought and absentmindedly start pulling your shirt off over your head, but before you can even think, you dumb shit, you hear John squawking like a dying parrot.

    "Oh my god Dave! Why didn't you tell me?" His grin is gigantic compared to his usual buck-toothed smile. You laugh awkwardly while trying to hide your chest, scrambling hastily through your bag to dig out your gym clothes.

    "What's it say, c'mon let me read!"

    "John-" Before you can finish objecting, he pulls you to face him and lifts your upper arms away from your chest, squinting at the markings. You watch as his face contorts into confusion, and then recognition. Excitedly, he bites his lip and squeals like a little girl, all while shaking his fists, including yours, in glee.

    "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my GOD! Dave! I know who your soulmate i-" You manage to snap your wrists from his and clasp a hand tightly over his mouth before he can reveal anything. You hold the back of his head and glare down at him.

    "Don't say another goddamn word, John. I do not want to know, so just leave it at that." _‘Whoa, when did I get this angry? Tone it down.’_

    Even with your hand still covering half his face, you can clearly tell he's hurt. His eyes have that weird look about them, like the one he gave you when you broke the first pair of glasses he bought you. You were throwing a tantrum and got so mad that you snapped them right in half, then threw them at the wall. You can't even really remember why. You do know that John didn't speak to you for three days. Which doesn't seem like a lot of time, but three days for a second grader is forever when you spend almost every waking hour with someone.

    You slowly remove your hand from your friend's mouth and turn away from him, instantly feeling guilty for being a dick. From the corner of your eye, you can see that he’s still staring at you, shocked and in disbelief. And yet, instead of apologizing, you _absolute_ dumb shit, you put on your shirt silently and walk out of the locker room, raking your hands through your hair in frustration.

 

‹       « wha† everyøne øugh† †ø knøw abøu† dave  »     ›


	3. Over Encumbered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to be a little longer, but enjoy this smaller chapter before this Saturday because I sometimes can't wait for you guys to read shit.

    After class, you pride yourself in successfully avoiding any confrontation and calming yourself down enough to keep up your usual front. You make your way to the music room for seventh period, and for the first time in...probably ever, you’re glad you don’t have class with John. Otherwise, you’re not quite sure what would happen. You’d probably end up saying something you’d regret or just sit in awkward, angry silence. You overreacted, you know that for damn sure, but it's not like you can take it back. You just don’t want John to spoil it...spoil it? No. That would imply that you’re excited about it or some shit. Whatever 'it' is. You’re just not ready to meet her. That would mean you’d have to try at a relationship and you don’t want that. Besides, you’re already too busy and riled up with school starting.

    And you’re pretty sure you’d fuck it up, somehow. You always do.

    The pain in your chest, which has been there on and off all fuckin’ day is replaced by "the tingles" as you approach the door to your class, but at this point, you’ve given up caring about it. It’s just too much exertion to give a shit, and you've already had too much emotional crap to deal with for one day. You walk into class with a slouch in your spine. ‘ _God damn it, Strider, it’s only the first day, and you’ve already lost your cool. I thought you were supposed to be all calm and collected,’_  you mentally kick yourself.

    The teacher turns to you, positively surprised, and her presence is as warm and welcoming as always.

    “Mr. Strider! It's a pleasure to see you again. How was your summer?” Mrs. Paint has always been your favorite teacher. She’s kind but feisty when tested, and one heck of a singer.

    “Good.”

    “You sing any?”

    “Recorded a few tracks."

    “That’s awesome. Can I hear them?” Her smile lights up the room.

    “Yeah, I’ll burn ya’ a disc.”

    “Great, hey...you okay?” ' _She’s like the overjoyed aunt I never had.'_ By which you mean that the one you had was a depressed alcoholic. She’s going through rehab in some hospital right now; maybe she’ll get better. Wow, Dave. Your thoughts just keep getting away from you. When did you start thinking like that? Are you fuckin’ depressed?

    “Yeah, just tired. Schedule’s all fucked up.” Liar.

    “Haha, I know what you mean. I slept in until two in the afternoon yesterday.”

    “Damn,” you give her a fake laugh for her efforts and scratch your nose as make your way to sit in the front row. You never sit in the front in other classes, but in this case, you like being closer to the music than the stupid kids who talk over the speakers.

    Rose walks in with Eridan and Feferi. And of course, she notices that something is wrong only by looking at you and makes her way towards you. You, in return, can only tell she’s still sober, which actually makes you kind of proud considering how often she's been drunk lately.

    “Good afternoon Dave, you seem to have something on your mind.”

    “Just had this weird feeling in my chest all day, s'all.”

    She scrunches her eyebrows together, “Heartburn maybe?”

    You notice her hesitation and take this opportunity to test a theory on why she’s been acting off. “Nah. I think it has something to do with this soulmate shit,” you say low enough so only she could hear. Her shoulders stiffen a bit, and she shakes her head. Bingo.

    “I can’t help you there. Good luck, though.” Your eyes trail after your sister as walks to sit across from Eridan. She always acts strange as soon as you bring up soulmates, but you’ll have to think this over later. As you turn to look back towards the front of the class, you notice Terezi sitting on the other side of the classroom, chatting at that small freshman right next to her. Kyle, right? No. Carter? That doesn’t sound right either. He’s looking down at his phone with a scrunched brow and typing fiercely. _‘Dude what did that phone ever do to you?’_

    Your gaze shifts from the kid, whose name you can’t remember, to the front as the teacher starts talking.

    “Okay my little younglings, my dear musicians, welcome to music class, I’m Mrs. Paint. Today is going to be a 'chill' day because quite honestly, I didn’t get enough sleep and I doubt any of you did either. So who wants to go first?”

    You can tell most of the freshies are confused about what 'going first' means by the chorus of ‘huh’s.

    “For the performances of course,” she gestures to the stage. Eridan’s hand is already in the air, as always.

    A few minutes of prepping and tuning, and he’s performing Ghost by Mystery Skulls. He does well, but you’re honestly quite tired of that song. He practiced it like a million times last year, and now it’s probably going to be stuck in your head for the rest of your life. Along with Pumped Up Kicks and every single Coldplay song...ever. He seems to have a common ‘sound’.

    Rose plays her violin after his turn, and then some new girl comes down to sing, although very poorly; she doesn’t seem to care much though. ' _Good for her,_ ' you guess. Then, once there are no willing volunteers left, Mrs. Paint looks expectantly at you. _'God damn it, not today.'_

    “No,” you tell her.

    “C’mon Dave. Come do some sick raps for us, you’re too good for everyone to have to miss out on them.” She smiles up at you. She knows she won this one.

    It’s hard to decline after this kind of compliment. You find yourself sighing and standing up. 'God damn it.'

    You choose the song Moral of the Story by Watsky since you’ve known it since middle school, and can sing (rap) it perfectly, meaning you won’t have to exert yourself. At least rapping will help you let off some steam as well. Fucking Egbert.

   While performing, you see the surprised faces in the audience and try to restrain a smirk. You fail.

    “ _I put in hour after hour_

_Let's be crystal clear_

_I'm gonna get there if it takes a day or fifty years_

_I'll finger-bang my fears_

_I'll fucking punch a dragon_

_Even with the Himalayas in my way, it's gonna happen…_ ”

    You smirk through the rest of the song and everyone claps afterward. You sit down with a small grin of satisfaction on your face, grateful Mrs. Paint pushed you to play.

    “Anyone else? No? Oh, I guess it's my turn, then.”

    Mrs. P proceeds to sing Girls by Marina and the Diamonds, followed by I Am Not A Robot after everyone cheers and chants for an encore. Throughout the rest of the session, you can’t help but have a nagging feeling that there are eyes on you. You pass it off as it maybe being a 'fan' of yours.

 

‹       « »       ›

 

    When school is finally over, you don't hesitate to pack your things and leave, wanting to walk home as soon as possible (Dirk only drives you in the morning). Rose decided to stay "for some macabre book club” she wants to join. You didn't question it.

    Other students are walking towards the residential part of town, just like you, and you feel somewhat awkward being the only one walking alone. If this day had gone differently, you would have been walking back with John at least, but you just had to mess things up again by overreacting. Although...the both of you did, in retrospect. ' _Maybe_ John _shouldn't have been a pushy little prick._ ' You have told him about your view of the mark situation. You don’t know if he forgot or if he just dismissed it. He’s always been somewhat of an optimist, you suppose. Maybe a little too much. It would be nice if he could be on your side for once though. He is your best friend after all. Hopefully, at least.

    To make matters worse, you still feel tingly, and once you pass by Prospit Street, the tingles transition into pinpricks of pain. Does your soulmate live down there or something? Glancing down the road, you spot some kind of cul de sac with dull-colored houses circled around. Two small children are playing with bright toys on the sidewalk. You shake your head, deciding to ignore both the topics of best friends and soulmates. Instead, thinking about something that is far more critical at the moment: sisters.

    Your sister has been acting weird ever since school ended last year. Every time the conversation shifts to the topic of soulmates, your sister shuts down and avoids participating in the dialogue. You’ve asked her about her behavior subtly, but she never answers any personal questions. You’ve noticed this about her for a while now. Heck, even your short chat before music class was an attempt to get something, _anything_ , out of her. What is wrong with her exactly is what you're still trying to piece together. Rose got her tattoo around Christmas, and she was exuberant, happy as happy can be. And then; poof. At the end of junior year, she just shut out the world. There are a few scenarios you’ve come up with, but you're starting to think it's time to press her more strongly for answers. Then again, do you _really_ want to?

    With your soulmate issues, John, and even Rose crowding your mind, you wish things would at least not always happen all at once.

 

‹       « wha† everyøne øugh† †ø knøw abøu† dave  »     ›

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you feel obliged. I'm eager to hear what you guys think. Or if you have any criticisms, those are helpful too. I hope you enjoyed. :)


	4. Learn and Conclude

    Roxy is the only person already home when you arrive, which you could tell before you even entered the house with the bad country-rap blaring out of the living room speakers, where she seems to have set up her 'workstation.' Being true to her messy nature, she left her coat hanging on the back of the couch, her purse haphazardly thrown on the floor, and her laptop is sitting on the coffee table surrounded by an assload of papers. Coincidentally, Roxy trudges out of the hallway, passing right by you. She's got even more papers in one hand, a beer in the other, and a determined, yet weary look in her eyes. The perfect image of a typical college student. She plops down on the couch and takes a sip, seemingly unaware of your presence. You scuff your shoe on the wood, earning a startled jump from your older sister of 29.

    “Oh, hey glasses, what’s up?”

    “Jus’ got back.”

    She nods and hums, "Hey, you gotta sharpie marker?”

    “Uh...I should? Whatcha workin’ on?”

    “This stupid project, I gotta make a poster board an’ present it to the class. I thought we left that shit back in high school.”

    “Hm. Anymore beer?”

    “Yes please.”

    You roll your eyes but smile nonetheless. Setting your backpack down near the hallway, you go to the fridge, noticing that there are only four -now two- beers left.

    You sit with your older sister for two hours working with her on her project. And even though you know next to nothing about esoteric science, you still have a good time helping her out.

    That is, until Dirk busts through the front door, grabs two katana off the wall, and sprints out the back. It’s not like that’s a new thing, but the speed and urgency of his step are enough to worry you. One look at Roxy shows she’s thinking the same thing.

    “Fired?” You suggest.

    “Dumped?”

    "Is he even dating anyone?"

    "Dunno, but that would do it."

    Both of you know not to follow him when he’s like this, so you don’t. He’ll probably take your head off from swinging that sword so hard.

    Not even five minutes later, Rose arrives home back home as well, accompanied by some friends: cat-girl and Feferi. They laugh, giggle, and disappear to Rose's room; you’re pretty sure you haven’t seen Rose that happy in months.

    You’re glad she’s surrounding herself with positive energy. You laugh to yourself; you sound like a hippy. ‘ _How about we meditate in the woods and smoke some marijuana with our lord Snoop?_ ’ That actually sounds appealing to you, but you can't place why. Maybe you’re a depressed hippy...

    That night, after you’ve done your daily rounds on social media and burned a disk for Mrs. Paint, (which would’ve been way easier if you just had an empty flash drive, but alas, all of your flash drives are filled with shitty tracks and failures you like to keep around. You can never hit the delete button.) you hear the back slider open and close, the padding of tired feet, and the small thump of Dirk’s door.

    You have the urge to talk to him and make sure he’s okay, wondering what happened. Of course, what kind of brother wouldn’t wonder? Did something happen on the job? Dirk doesn’t really talk about his relationships...if he has any at all. Rose would be the first one to know if he did. You’re not one to pry.

    Around ten, you step out of your room to get a beverage. Only to find two things that surprise you. One: there are three tipsy girls playing some fucked up version of D&D at the table. Two: after you step into the kitchen, you find the dummy that’s usually in the backyard torn to shreds and placed next to the trash can. Dirk really went to town with this one. On your way back, you also spot Roxy conked out on the couch. (But that’s not new.) It seems she finished her poster; there is a film of glitter covering the coffee table.

 

‹       « »       ›

 

    You didn’t hear the two girls leave Rose’s room, but they’re long gone when you wake up the next morning. Dirk’s door is still closed, and most likely locked too. Even as you do your morning routine, you only hear your sisters get up. You guess he’s staying home today.

    The walk to school is colder than you thought it would be, especially since it's only August.

    And as if life just wanted to throw in a casual reminder about that soulmate situation, you feel the painful tug in your chest on the last block before school, then it turns into that static-foot-asleep thing and doesn't go away.

    You don’t hear John’s overly-cheerful voice calling you over, and that bothers you. You see him smiling and laughing with the same people from yesterday, crowding around right in front of the school building. You notice there's one more person today. Even from here, you can tell he’s taller than you and is wearing two different colored shoes and 3-D glasses. ' _Who wears 3-D glasses outside a movie? But then again, who wears shades inside, where there’s no sun._ _Touche, self...touche._ ’

    You consider stopping and checking up with John, maybe apologize for overreacting. However, once he notices you, he stops talking and glares at you. He fucking glares at you! The conversation between the group ceases instantly, and you feel everyone’s eyes on you.

    You pick up a fast pace and don't stop walking until you get to the entrance. To avoid colliding with the doors, you unfortunately have to slow down. In turn, you catch the back end of the hushed conversation of the group.

    “What the fuck was that John? I could literally smell the tension in the air.” And you almost turn around because of what John says, but you just clench your teeth together and slam the door behind you.

    “He’s just a fucking idiot.”

    It’s no mystery why you sat away from him in first and second period. You’re pretty sure everyone in school has noticed how you and John have been acting, given how buddy-buddy you usually are. As the bell rings, you don't hesitate to pack up and get as far away from John as possible, maneuvering through the hallway towards your locker.

    "For fuck's sake, why is there always drama going on?" You freeze as you say that because you definitely meant only to _think_ that, and not to mumble it out. You used to say everything you thought when you were a child, but you'd stopped as you got older, as far as you know. When did you pick that back up again? Is it because of stress?

    You find yourself needing to splash some water on your face. Hurrying past a group of students just fucking standing in the middle of the hallway. Who has the indecency to do that? To avoid the masses, you stick to the wall. However, in your rush, you accidentally bump into Terezi's small friend, the one with massively wrecked hair and too-big sweaters. You don't slow your step as you step past him and mutter out a quick apology.

    “Sorry shorty, just passin’ through.”

    As you drift down the mostly-empty hallway, you feel like everyone’s watching you. You guess that it’s because you’re walking too fast and you slow down.

    When you arrive at your destination, you proceed to the task you walked all the way here for. After wiping your face with a rough paper towel, you lean against the sink and shake your head.

    "Everything was just fine before school started. Before I got this stupid tattoo. Before Rose broke down-" ' _And god damn it, I’m mumbling again._ '

    You look at your face in the mirror, your eyes staring back at you. It almost feels like you're staring at a photograph. Everything just feels too unreal right now.

    ' _Okay Strider, enough of this philosophical shit._ '

    Throughout that whole day, you’re stuck in your head. Even when you feel like there are a thousand eyes on you, piercing into your soul. You pass off any questions people ask you, and you’re the first one in and out of your classes. You’d rather not run into John right now, because quite honestly, tense as you are, you’re afraid you might punch him in the face on sight.

    He deserves it, he really does. He’s being an asshat to you. How are you the one who's "just a fucking idiot?" It's _your_ problem anyways; you just don’t want to know who your soulmate is. Especially now that you’ve got all this drama to think about.

 

‹       « »       ›

 

    On Wednesday, you decide to completely skip school. You wake up with a sore throat and that, on top of all the stress, drives you to say “Fuck it", turn off your alarm, roll over, and fall back asleep.

    You slowly awake only a couple hours later, finding a ray of sunlight has peaked through the blinds and is now shining directly into your right eye. _'Holy mother of frick, that’s just my luck, right?'_

    When you sit up, you feel like gravity has it out for your brain. Groaning, you walk to the bathroom to get some aspirin and some cold medicine, just in case it gets worse.

    You’re not all that hungry; you never really are in the mornings, so you trudge towards the fridge just to grab some apple juice, only to find that none is left. God damn it, are you the only one who notices when there is literally  _no_ food in this house?

    Dirk walks through the doorway and freezes when he spots you.

    “Shouldn’t ya’ be in school, kiddo?”

    “Gotta’ cold,” your voice is scratchy, which sells it. Well, it’s not like you’re lying, so you don’t really have to ‘sell’ it. Your brother just nods and grabs a bottle of water from the fridge.

    “Stay away from me then. I don’t wan’it.” He leans against the counter.

    Both of you stand in an odd silence. You think of telling him about the feeling that's been in your chest lately (which you haven't had to deal with all day, thank god). You just don't know how to make it sound _not_ weird and whiny. 

    “You want some eggs?” Dirk asks.

    “Nah, I’m good.” That sends you both into an awkward silence once again. You could just turn and go back to your room, but you haven't seen your brother in a whole day, and you're itching to talk to him about anything at all.

    “Anythin’ on your mind?” Your brother asks, looking at you with his head turned slightly to the side. It seems he saw the slight turmoil in your expression. ' _Shit I gotta work on that_.'

    “Shouldn’t I be the one askin’ you that?”

    “Whad’ya mean?”

    “Monday, dude. You came in rushin’ to strife,” you nod to the dummy that's still in the corner. It seems no one knows how to take out the trash either.

    He nods, takes a drink of water, and looks down at his socks.

    “You get fired er somethin’?”

    “Nah. It’s just...somethin’ came up.”

    You raise your eyebrows as if to say “go on…” He sighs and pulls his shirt up, showing his hip bone and the green letters printed on it:

_Sorry to intrude, but I could use some directions to the kitchen wares._

   

    You stare at it, bewildered…

    “So...you met...”

    "Not...exactly? Some british guy came up to me on Monday an' said...that...while I was stockin' shelves."

    "Shit. Whad'ya say?"

    “Didn’t say a damn word, that’s the problem. I jus’ bolted the fuck outta’ there.”

    “So...your soulmate came up to you, asked you a question, and you just left?”

    “No, not 'just left', I LEFT, as in: sprinted the fuck to the back of the store, clocked out early, and hauled ass home.”

    “Damn. You left the poor guy with no idea.”

    “Yup.”

    “So what are you gunna do?”

    “I honestly don’t have a fuckin’ clue, lil' bro. Still workin’ on it.”

    For the rest of that day, you and Dirk sit on the couch and watch shitty television. You even walk to the nearest general store, one that Dirk doesn't work at just in case that guy pops up, to stock up on some stuff before the girls get home.

    And you’re happy to report that you buy not one, but _two_ cases of AJ.

    Roxy comes back home around five, looking exhausted. She goes straight to bed, no questions asked. You’re kind of impressed your sister could get into college. Proud even. She’s one smart cookie. You probably couldn’t do it. No, there’s not even a ‘probably.’ You couldn’t do it even if you really tried.

    Once it gets late enough for you to hit the sack, you get off the couch and nod to your brother.

    “G’night.”

    “’Night lil' bro.”

    For the first time, you actually wonder what would it be like to meet your soulmate. _Really_ wonder. You don’t even know. It’d probably be hella scary. Like the most epic “oh shit” moment. Hopefully, you have the balls not to 'book it' once the event arrives. Not saying your brother doesn’t have balls, it’s just that you’d rather not come off as...y'know...capable of emotions. Maybe then she’ll leave you alone, and not even bother.

    You eye the burned CD sitting next to your computer. You were too distracted to give it to Mrs. Paint on Tuesday. You still have to tell people about all this, don’t you? And you have yet to fix things between you and John. It’s already been...three days? Why is he mad again? Oh, that’s right...he _shouldn’t be_. He literally has no right to be mad. This is your problem to deal with…

    An idea pops into your head, and you boot up your computer. You open up your web browser to the search engine on google, and then sit there for a few seconds, thinking about how to word your question. Then you get it:

 

    “how to avoid meeting your soulmate”

 

    You click on many, many links and read for about an hour before you lay back and sigh, unsatisfied with your discoveries. Nothing...there is absolutely nothing you can do. Your mind keeps replaying a particular sentence.

  “You will meet your soulmate regardless of your efforts not to, it is your destiny after all.”

    You sit there on your bed, looking up at the ceiling, and try to recall each time you’ve felt that painful tug or the tingles in your chest: the night you got your tattoo, arriving at school, history class, photography class, in music, and every time you pass Prospit. Despite the pain behind your eyes, you continue thinking about this stuff for another hour and come up with three conclusions:

 

  1. ) Your soulmate goes to your high school.



    2.) Your soulmate lives down Prospit.

    3.) You’re going to meet them very very soon.

    4.) Bonus conclusion: You, David Strider, are scared shitless.

 

‹       « wha† everyøne øugh† †ø knøw abøu† dave  »     ›


	5. Growing Light-Bulb

    At some point in the middle of the night, you wake up in cold sweat with a dry mouth, leaving you annoyed and slightly damp. You get up, change clothes, and get a container of apple juice; which means that when you wake up feeling the same for the second time on Thursday, you consider skipping again. Your sickness seems to be ten times worse than yesterday, so you groan as you put your feet on the floor. Gravity, yet again, seems to be attacking your brain.

    After a little argument with yourself, you hoist yourself off your bed. You’re going to school whether you like it or not. You need to make things right with John and give that disk to Mrs. Paint. Also, you need to stop being a wimp, because even though you’d _like_ to blame not going to school on being sick, you know it’s because of everything else. So you pick an outfit, fix up your hair, and walk your ass to school.

    It’s still cold out, but not as much as Tuesday. As you’re walking, you think of all the ways you could make up with John. Ha! It sounds like you two are a fighting couple or something. Halfway to school, however, you still can’t come up with anything to say, so you decide to let John deal with it. It’s not like it was your fault, right? Why should you have to fix it?

    Right on time, as could be expected, the “tether” shows up to give you a hard time when you round the last block to school. You try not to mind it. "I mean...it’s not like I don’t already have enough on my mind."

    When the school is in viewing distance, you sigh and mentally prepare yourself. You see John and the rest of the group standing in their usual spot, and you don’t even attempt to approach them. You’re too tired and sick. If John wants to fix this, then he should come up to you and set this right himself.

    You see the confusion on your best bro’s face when he realizes you’re not coming towards them and let your eyes wander to the new dude with the 3-D glasses. You’re not sure if he’s glaring at you or if he just has resting-bitch-face. You don’t even try to contemplate the look further. As you walk, you feel the eyes of the entire group on you. And you could honestly not care less.

    At lunch, you take a step back and think of how you got there. Damn, the day has just flown by, hasn’t it? Maybe you have secret time powers. You look over to John’s table, now occupied by six people. You’ve relocated yourself to another table, with your sister, for the time being. Hopefully, John will be smart enough to pull his head out of his ass and apologize.

    When you arrive in your seventh-period class, Music, you’re surprised to see Tavros sitting in your usual seat.

    You sit next to him, “When’d you get in this class?”

    “Oh, uh...I just got my schedule change today.”

    “Sweet. Y’all not mad at me too right?”

    “Why would I be mad at you?”

    “I dunno, I hear John’s spewin’ shit about me.”

    “No, not anymore. I think he’s more worried about...Jade.”

    “Jade?”

    Tavros opens his mouth to say something, but Mrs. Paint starts giving the class instructions. As she’s walking by, she eyes the disk in front of you, and you smirk, handing it to her. She smiles at you so sweetly you could get a cavity just by looking at her. That brightens your day just a lil’ bit. She tries to get you to rap during class, but you’d die if you put your throat through that kind of torture, so you point to your throat and shake your head. She pouts but leaves you be.

    You feel the slightest itch on the back of your neck. _'Whoever you are ...Stop looking at me.'_

    Rose goes up first this time and sings Hold Me Down by Halsey. Boy, she seems happy. You wonder what made her mood change. You also wonder when Mrs. Paint is going to start teaching your class. I mean, you’re perfectly fine with everyone just performing for the rest of the year, but you’d like to learn more about music as well.

    You and Tavros pass meaningless notes throughout class time. You may not have hung out with him all that much, but still you think he’s an alright dude. Maybe a bit shy, but that’s not really a bad thing.

    “Hey, Dave?”

    “Yes, Tavbro?”

    “I was...wondering if you’d want to...hang out after school?” Damn. Sure wasn’t expecting that.

    “Yeah, sure. What'd ya’ have in mind?”

    “I’m uh meeting someone today. And I guess you’d be my moral support?”

    “Who’s this someone,” you nudge him with your elbow and wiggle your eyebrows.

    He smiles, his dimples showing. “He may or may not...be my...soulmate? I won't really know until I meet him so...”

    “Yeah, I’m down. Is this at...”

    “The park.”

    “Sweet.” Not sweet, this sucks. Have you actually become so desperate for friendship that you just agreed to third-wheeling? But this is Tavros we're talking about. No one can say no to that adorable face.

    The classroom door clicks open and most of the class looks up to see who it is. Some don’t give a shit. To your pleasant surprise, you see Roxy sauntering in to talk to your teacher. She winks at you, earning a questioning smile in return.

    “Oh, hello Roxy,” the two hug.

    “Hi Ms. Paint.”

    “What can I do for you?”

    “Would you mind if I took Rose and Dave from you?”

    “Yeah, sure. There’s not much going on anyhow.”

    They proceed to catch up as old friends. Roxy tells her about her classes and Ms. Paint is as encouraging as ever. You remain in your seat, impatient to leave.

    “Rain check?”

    Tavros smiles brightly. “Yeah, for sure.”

    You note that John would have taken it personally. You visibly relax at Tavros’ calm nature.

    Finally, when the two women are done talking, Roxy nods towards the door and you stand and trail her, Rose at your side.

    You look back one last time, scanning all the faces following you. Your eyes catch on messy hair...Caleb was it? And the dude with three dimensional glasses, whom you have yet to meet. You blatantly stare at them before making your way out into the hall with your siblings.

    It turns out Roxy just wants to celebrate Dirk meeting his soulmate. He told her today and she thought she’d surprise you. It at least seems to affect Rose if that’s even a word for it: she basically just 'shuts down' again. The three of you join Dirk who is in the passenger seat of Roxy’s car looking like a teenager being forced to go to a family dinner, which isn't far from what this situation seems like.

    It turns out to be a hella lame evening; Dirk gets mad at your sister for embarrassing him. So the night goes to shit when Roxy bursts out crying, and Rose is left to console her.

    Nighttime comes around, and as you lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling, you think of how this week has gone to shit too. You lost your best friend, you’re sick as fuck, and it’s only going to get worse. _And_ you have to deal with this soulmate shit. Let's not forget about that. It's not like your body continually reminds you of that in the shittiest situations. But John knows who it is, which...kind of puts things into perspective. You have a soulmate. And you will meet her. That's a definite.

 _You_ have a _soulmate_! Like...what even?

    You contemplate what she might look like…or him. God, that idea has been itching at you lately. Whatever. For the remainder of that night, you try to push every single thought about John, about Dirk, and about your soulmate as far into the back of your mind as possible. You've already had enough headaches in the past few days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little late but that's fine. Hope you enjoyed.


	6. Reverberating Panics

    John. Fucking. Egbert. The royal, and most prominent pain in your ass at the moment, has just flipped you off. You randomly looked over at your old table and caught John’s eyes. You gave a slight head nod, y’know, to be at least a bit courteous and shit, and then he just...did it.

    It wasn’t a playful flip-off either. It wasn’t like the times he challenged you to beat his high score (and you did, for the record). No. This was the type of bird John would only throw if he was seriously pissed as hell.

    And the worst part? You’re not even sure what you did anymore, and you sure as hell don’t know where to go from here. It’s obvious he’s not going to try and fix this. Is he seriously going to pin this on you? Sure seems like it.

    Before you even think about it, you slowly lift your hand up in front of your face, extend your 'forbidden finger,' and it feels good...yet oh so wrong. It feels like your stomach is hitting your pelvic bone

    You sniffle as you look away. The sickness has completely taken over your sinuses, and it...is...hell. You can’t even breathe out of your nose.

    “Strider?”

    “Huh...” Eridan is giving you a confused look.

    “The fuck w-was that? I thought you an’ that little rodent w-were friends?”

    “Yeah, me too bud.”

    “Is that w-why you’v-ve been sittin’ w-with us?”

    “Yup.”

    It’s a well-known fact the Eridan Ampora used to have a crush on John Egbert. It’s gone now, replaced with a weird kind of hate that hasn’t gone away since. Sometimes he looks at your best friend like he wants to kiss him and then rip his head off. It’s uncanny...and you’d preferably not think about it too much.

    Eridan continues to ask questions about what happened, but you don’t answer them. Nepeta, the cat girl Rose came home with recently and whom you've only just met, even tried to stop him, seeing that he was slowly getting on your nerves.

 

‹       « »       ›

 

    When seventh period comes around, you see that Tavros hasn't shown up yet. Actually, you haven't seen him all day. You smirk to yourself: he probably skipped today to be with his new boyfriend.

    It’s kind of scary how fast you can brush off what just happened at lunch. Did John platonically break up with you? Is that what’s happening right now? Maybe you’re too sick to care. No. Maybe you’re just numb to it. You’re probably just shutting down your feelings and, from experience, you can say that is the worst possible coping mechanism you could use at the moment.

    Eridan motions you over to their table, so you plop down in the seat next to your sister. It’s better than sitting alone, at least.

    “Sup nerds.”

    “How-wdy loser face.”

    “Just loser face?” you raise your eyebrow. “Not very clever there, hipster Harry Potter-fucker.” You say in a fake English accent.

    He breathes in sharply and holds his hand to his heart to further exaggerate his next words, “I w-would nev-ver fuck Harry; he’s too precious.” Eridan crosses his arms and pouts.

    “Oh, sweet Jesus.”

    Mrs. Paint, having gone up to the center of the nonexistent stage, clears her throat and claps her hands together as to draw everyone's attention.

    “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure to present an excellent soundtrack made by our very own Dave Strider.”

    ' _Whoa...wait what? No...oh god please no._ '

    “Although it is very brief...” she looks at you with a disappointed look. “...and they’re all covers...”

    “Hey, in my defense, creating a whole new song would take a lifetime. And also, you’re really gunna show that shit?”

    “It’s not “shit” Strider...it’s art.”

    “Oh, okay. My bad: art that is, coincidentally, shit.”

    She glares at you but also smiles. How could she betray you like this?

    She plays it for the class, and you bite your lip. The disk included four songs by Watsky, one by Eminem, and Dangerous Man by Little Dume (which is you actually singing, and not rapping for a change).

    Listening to it takes you back to the summer, before you got this stupid tattoo and before school started. God, what you would give just to time travel back to those days.

    When the tracks finish, everyone cheers. When the class is quiet once again, Mrs. P opens up the ‘stage’ to anyone who wants to perform for the day.

    “Anyone? No one? Wow.” She walks around the tables, eyeing everyone. From behind you, you hear her say “You’re up Sollux, you’ve been quiet all week.”

    So that's what his name is. You hear his tongue click in annoyance, but he gets up anyways, goes down, and stops in the front, and just as he turns to face the class, your heart stops. Ok, pause. Let’s refer back to the conclusions you came to back on Wednesday:

 

 1.) Your soulmate goes to your high school.

-Check

 

2.) Your soulmate lives down Prospit.

-Not yet fully established

 

3.) John knows this person yet you have not met them...duh.

-You’ve seen this guy standing in the front of the school with the group.

 

4.) You’re going to meet them very very soon.

-You’re pretty sure it’s been over three months since your tattoo took the liberty of ingraining itself into your skin

 

5.) Bonus Conclusion: You, David Strider, are scared shitless.

-Holy mother of fuck. _Check check check_!

 

    "Fuck." Okay. Let’s think about this.You’ve seen him standing by John (who claims to know who your soulmate is). And if he’s been hanging out with John, then he obviously knows who you are (which explains why he would say “Strider” in his first words) unless John knows how to keep his mouth shut, but you don’t think that’s possible. You haven’t said one goddamn word to him, which means there’s a 50/50 chance he could or could not be your soulmate.

    Fuck, he’s tall. Mrs. Paint brings up the player and types in the song he chose. Lost At Sea by Zedd. He sings very well. _‘Shit!’_

    Wait. Wait one goddamn second. You felt the tether Monday when this guy wasn’t around. Well...just because you didn't see him doesn't mean he wasn't around.

    You feel lightheaded. _'What the fuck. What the FUCK.'_

    Like back in the lunchroom, you act on instinct; which takes you outside the classroom and towards the bathroom.

    "You’re not going to have a panic attack. You are not going to have another fucking panic attack."

    Don’t you fucking dare Dave.

    It takes you a minute to calm your breathing. "What...the fuck? No. Stop freaking out. It was bound to happen, right? Just get over it." You hear your voice reverberate against the walls and God fucking damn it, you're mumbling again.

    The bathroom door opens and then closes. You see red and blue in the mirror, and you spin around so fucking fast, you get dizzy.

     “Okay!” you exclaim out of breath. “Before you say a goddamn word, stop it right there and listen.”

     He crosses his arms and gives you a condescending look. _'That fucker. Is he actually smirking right now?!'_

     “You know already, I can see it in your eyes. John probably told you. Okay, here’s how this is gonna go, yer gunna turn your 3-D ass around, and walk right out of that door before you say it.” he opens his mouth, “No!” you point out the door.

    He doesn’t budge, and you try to keep your stance, but you slink against the stall. Fuck, you’re exhausted.

    “Are you done having your little tantrum?”

    If your heart had lungs, they would be singing in relief. Your actual lungs make up for it and you heave out a large breath.

    “You thought I wath your thoulmate?”

    A lisp? “Yeah, kinda.”

    He puts his hand on his chin and looks off thoughtfully. “If I were, the wordth “Okay, before you thay a goddamn word, thtop it right there and lithten” would be inked into my shoulder blade. But they’re not tho...”

    You let out an empty laugh, putting your hand on your heart for no damn reason.

    “I’m not gunna tell you, but I do know who your thoulmate ith.”

    “Yeah, seems like everyone but me knows.”

    “Tho why don’t _you_ wanna know?”

    You look at your reflection, “It's...I don't know man, I guess it's programmed into me." 

    He bobs his head, "I get that."

    So that is how you met Sollux Captor, and you’re glad you did because that’s just one more person checked off the list.

    When was there ever a list?

 

‹       « wha† everyøne øugh† †ø knøw abøu† dave  »     ›

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missed last Saturday, but it's okay. Hope you enjoyed this.


	7. Upsetting Tidbits

    Why don’t you want to meet your soulmate? This question has presented itself on a multitude of occasions and has been relatively easy to answer in the past. Usually they were bullshit excuses like ‘because the soulmate promise is bullshit and it hurts more than helps’ or even ‘why would I need the fates or whatever to get me a girl when I can do it myself?’. But like you said, those were bullshit excuses and right now, you can't, for the life of you, come up with any form of  _ logical _ reasoning.

    You sit on the thought all weekend while you recuperate from your cold and stay exclusively in bed during those two days, only getting up to take a piss; and even that you delayed until you just couldn’t hold it anymore.

    Unfortunately, you have to do laundry before school tomorrow, so you have no choice but to exit the confines of your comforter. It’s ten o’clock at night, and you are hauling a basket of raunchy ass clothes to the laundry room.

    You shove the garments into the drum, reveling in the satisfaction that they all fit in there like a perfect jigsaw puzzle of smelly cloth.

    The couch seems like a reliable place to chill while your clothes wash, so you find yourself sitting next to your sister as she watches some drag-queen-fashion-show thing. She makes drunken comments towards the ones she doesn’t like, raising an occasional chuckle out of you.

    At times like these, you wish you hadn't dropped your phone in the bathtub (ironically) and fried it a while ago. You even put it in a bag of rice for 24 hours, but to no avail. Hence, to occupy yourself, you spend the rest of the night watching T.V. with your sister and doing laundry-related things.

 

‹       « »       ›

 

    The next morning, you wake up startled and confused. Your alarm clock is blaring its monotonous ring, and you slam your hand down on the top button, glaring at it. It disrupted your dream, whatever it was, and scared the shit out of you. You don’t feel like getting up, and for once it’s not because you're still a bit sick.

    ' _ Ah fuck. _ ' You gotta talk to John, and you’re not going to back out this time. You’re going to do it, and that’s final; even if it'll be a pain in your ass.

    You really don’t want to get up. It’s warm under the blankets, and you can feel the freezing air on your face. You close your eyes for a second.

    While you focus on the white noise of the shower down the hall, your mind wanders to how warm your legs are and just how fuzzy everything is. Even the air around you seems to vibrate. You hum and snuggle back into the covers.

    You catch yourself sinking back into the tendrils of sleep and shoot up, alarmed that you might’ve slept past your last alarm.

    ‘ _ Oh good, it’s only been 4 minutes _ .’

    After you’ve successfully woken yourself up with a cup of coffee, which you rarely drink, and a scalding hot shower, you start getting ready for school. You start with your outfit: a plain white tee and black fitted jeans, and then move onto your hair, which you spend an absurd amount of time on. Rose walks by the bathroom door and gives you a condescending look, and you finally restrain your perfectionism.

    Dirk gives you a ride, like always, and again, like always, the tug in your chest presents itself around the last block to school. And, like always, Dirk speeds off after you shut the truck door.

    When you turn around, you look up at the sky and the pink clouds. For some reason, you feel kind of...infinite? You don’t know if it was the shower or the fact that your hair looks perfect today, but it makes you feel exceptionally good. Like, weirdly good.

    You have a sense of pride to you. So you don’t even blink as you stride up to your best friend, slide your shades down your nose, and raise your eyebrows expectantly.

    “If you’re done being a pussy ‘bout this situation, I’ll be on the football field ta’ talk.”

    And with that, you turn, snapping your shades back on and swiftly walking away.

    John seems wary at first, considering how passive-aggressive you two have been in the past few days, but he soon follows you anyways with the idea that you probably don’t give a shit if he’s mad at you anymore (you’re really good at showing the facade you want). The two of you sit down on the benches in silence for a moment, which makes you think he’s not going to say anything. When you roll your eyes and stand like you’re about to leave, John opens up like a book.

    “Things aren’t going so well between Jade and me.”

    “Seriously? This is all happenin’ because of you and Jade?”

    “I thought soulmates were supposed to be perfect for each other, but I guess that isn’t true...”

    “Dude...” You sit back down.

    “I guess...I don’t know...I was jealous?”

    “Jealous?”

    “Yeah...'cause you’re just like...so confident that you don’t need a soulmate, and it made me angry because...I don’t know...you were right? And it sucks ‘cause I really thought I finally found ‘the one.’ Well...I mean...I did, but she’s not...Ugh!”

    He leans forward, putting his head in his hands roughing up his hair even more.

    “Don’t worry about it. Isn’t this shit suppose to sort itself out? And even if it doesn’t...maybe there’s a reason for that...I dunno man.”

    John rubs his face and sits up, sighed heavily. “Yeah...you’re both right.”

    “What d’ya mean?”

    He sighs for the second time. “You and-um...yeah. Both of you are saying the same thing: just let it happen like it's supposed to.”

    Your heart does a weird thing that you don’t like, and you try to push down the building curiosity. ‘ _ Golly gosh darn, it’s not even 9 am and I'm already exhausted.' _

    When you and John’s conversation evens out to calm and non-frustrating topics, you two make your way to class and spend the first two periods of the day catching up on current events like how Dirk met his soulmate and John’s new dog (that’s actually Jade’s).

    You guys finally round back to the soulmate talk around lunchtime. He asks you to think about if you want to meet your soulmate, and you ask for some time to do so. He keeps mentioning how good you guys would get along and one thing keeps clawing at the front of your thoughts.

    ‘ _ Why is he using “they” instead of “she”?’ _

    You stop in the middle of the hallway and John raises his eyebrows at you questioningly.

    “Just...uh...I jus’ need ta know one thing…”

    John turns fully towards you and dodges a student clutching her lunchbox close to her chest. He nods as if to say “Go on?”.

    ‘ _ Wait...shit! Do I really want to know? He’s already looking at me funny...ugggh.” _

    “I jus’ need a one-word answer here, nothing more...okay?”

    John agrees with a suspicious bob of his head.

    “Is it...a chick or a dude?”

    Your best bro smirks immediately, wiggling his eyebrows. He says his next word like he’s offering you drugs or some shit

    “Dude.”

    ' _ Fuck, I knew it. _ '

 

‹       « wha† everyøne øugh† †ø knøw abøu† dave  »     ›


	8. The Unmeeting

    In Physical Education, Cronus (or Mr. Ampora, or Mr. Daddy-O) makes the whole class run a mile to ‘get you chiefs in shape,’ so by the time you arrive in seventh period, your legs hurt and your hair is mussed thanks to the wind and you combing your fingers through it.

    Since Tavros has yet to show up to class, you just sit in your usual spot. You hear a “ptthht” from behind you. A couple other people look back too, but Sollux is staring right at you.

    “Sup.”

    “Wanna be partnerth?”

    “Huh?”

    He points to the board, where Mrs. P has written “PARTNER PROJECTS DUE AT THE END OF QUARTER” on there.

    “The fuck?”

    Sollux moves into Tavros’ spot and smirks at you. “Partnerth?”

    “Dude, yer creepin’ me out. I’ll be your partner if you stop looking at me like that.”

    He conceals his grin and resorts to pulling out his phone.

    When the bell rings, Paint comes to stand on the ‘stage,’ smiling excitedly at everyone. “So, as you can see, you guys have a project due at the end of this quarter. This project can be anything that shows your talent, whether it’s piano, violin, or vocal skills...the list goes on.  _ But _ ,” she exaggerates, “it has to be truly... _ great _ .”

    Oh boy, you have a shit ton of ideas running through your brain. ‘ _ Should we do a duet? Well...obviously since this is a PARTNER project. Sollux can sing, and you can do the turntables and turn this shnizzle into a fuckin’ rave...hm. _ ’

    “Now...since this is such a small class, I’ve decided that partners will be chosen in alphabetical order, sorry in advance.”

    The whole class seems to groan at the thought. ‘ _ Great, never mind. No rave. _ ’

    “So, I will list off partners now,” she picks up a clipboard with the attendance sheet. “Ampora and Captor; Lalonde and Lejion; Makara and Maryam; Megido and Nitram; Peixes and Serket; and finally...Strider and Vantas.”

    You hear the lispy nerd next to you whisper under his breath: “...fuckin’ dethtiny…” but choose to ignore the creepy smirk that found its way back onto his face.

    ' _ Who the fuck is Vantas? _ '

    Once Mrs. P lets everyone find their partners, you see a bunch of kids asking around about who the fuck they’re with. If you guys aren’t even on a first name basis, how are you suppose to find someone with the last name Vantas? Process of elimination you guess.

    “Who the fuck ith Ampora?”

    “The douche sitting around on his phone not giving a care in the world. Sitting next to my sister. He’s a cool guy, sings pretty good. Gay as a fuckin’ fruit loop.”

    He gives you a pointed look, “Ith being gay thomething you look down upon?”

    “What? No. I’m not sayin’ that to be mean. I’ve known him for years. He takes that shit as compliments actually...ya’ll can go over there and ask him yerself.”

    That seems to clear things up, seeing as Sollux nods, gets up, and walks over hesitantly.

    Sollux says something to Eridan and the latter’s head snaps up.

    Eridan says something to Sollux and the latter stiffens.

    Eridan pulls his scarf down, and you can see a little line of ink, but you can’t make out the words. ' _ Oh...shit. Oh shit? Nah, this is good. Good for them. _ '

    Someone plops down in the seat next to you like their butt is a semi, and the chair is a small rodent. In other words, you feel the pain in the little guy's legs. And by “little guy” you mean the chair, not Terezi’s little freshman friend, which in retrospect, probably couldn’t break that chair even with a sledgehammer. ‘ _ Jesus this kid is scrawny _ .’

    “Sup.”

    ‘ _ No answer. Well...okay? _ ’

    “So I guess we're supposed to do some duet? I’ve never done one, so...good fuckin’ luck to us. Not to be rude or anything, but...I totally forgot your name. I’m gunna take a leap of faith and say it’s something like...Carter? Wait, no. Karl...right?”

    He glares in your general direction but you don’t think he’s looking directly at you.

    “Alright, ya’ don’t wanna talk. That’s cool. I'm exhausted too I guess.”

 

‹       « »       ›

 

    “Okay class, now that you have your partners, let’s take a look at the things we’re gonna learn over the next couple weeks...”

    So she goes through the whole list. You’re not surprised to see things like vocal practice, runs, and breath control on it. But you’ve never seen piano practice or harmonizing.

    “As the more advanced kids can see, I’ve added some new things too. How do you like them? Eridan, Rose, Dave...I’m talking to you guys.”

    “Wwhy do wwe havve ta’ knoww piano?”

    “Because it makes girls swoon, and it’s good for practicing vocals too. See,” she hits a key on the piano sitting up front and then matches it with her own voice.

    So while the class crawls by as slow as it possibly can, a slip of paper is shoved in front of you.

 

    carcinoGeneticist

 

    The handwriting looks familiar, but you can’t place it. You look over at Vantas, and he’s looking back up at Paint.

    “Pesterchum?”

    He nods.

    “Sweet.”

 

‹       « »       ›

 

    That night, as you’re dicking around on the computer, you remember the slip in your pocket and open up Pesterchum.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] started pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 9:19 --

TG: yo

TG: its me

TG: you’ve been blessed with my presence

TG: my electronic presence

TG: well

TG: just wanted to make sure this is the right handle

TG: and from your consecutive silence

TG: i can safely say

TG: it probably is

CG: JESUS I DIDNT KNOW SOMEONE COULD WORD VOMIT WHILE TEXTING.

CG: SINCE THERE IS A THING CALLED “BACKSPACE”.

CG: attachment:.jpeg

TG: i know what a backspace key looks like vantas

TG: i just choose not to use it

CG: YEAH I CAN FUCKING SEE THAT.

CG: I TURN MY COMPUTER ON AND IM BOMBARDED WITH A STRING OF RED TEXTS.

CG: NOW WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?

TG: i already told you

TG: just checkin to see if its you

TG: this is vantas right???

CG: YES

CG: IS THAT IT?

TG: yeah pretty much

CG: GOOD IM LEAVING NOW...

CG: AND MY NAME IS KARKAT VANTAS, NOT JUST VANTAS.

CG: AND NOT FUCKING “KARL” EITHER.

TG: ok then

TG: see ya around karkat vantas

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 9:34 --

 

    Wow, this guy doesn’t seem to like you all that much huh? Oh well. He’s stuck with you for the rest of the quarter whether he likes it or not.


	9. Moving Parts

Dirk wakes you up since you apparently slept through your alarm. You vaguely remember turning it off and telling yourself to get your ass up, but alas...your ass is not up.

' _Fuckin’ Tuesdays, man._ '

Since you’re late, you don’t really have enough time to take a shower, so you just wash your face over the sink. First with hot water, then cold. You stand there blinking rapidly, trying to wake up your eyes. Ugh. Everything _else_ is awake.

Your hair turns out almost perfect, maybe a little poofy here and there, but other than that, it’s fine.

Picking an outfit out of your hamper (since you haven’t folded any of your fucking clothes _Dave_ ), you slip on a standard white tee and some black jeans. Now that your cold is completely gone, you don’t have to wear those hot ass hoodies to keep you warm.

You get your daily ride to school in a particular black Chevy truck. Unfortunately for Dirk, you find yourself needing to talk to keep yourself awake, so you annoy your brother about random shit.

You can tell from how fast Dirk pulls up to the curb that he wants you out. Now. So you do just that. He pulls away from the school so fast; you think his mirrors could fly off from the sheer velocity.

John’s voice carries across the parking lot, “Dave! Over here!” Boy is it good to hear that enthusiasm.

When you get close, your chattiness doesn’t change. “John, I know where ya’ stand every day, I don’t see why ya’ say ‘over here.’”

“Yeah, me neither. Hey, you seem to be in a good mood?”

“I guess, I’m jus’ real chatty. Jus’ talked Dirk’s ears off.

“I rather enjoy my earth, tho can you jutht not."

You purse your lips at Sollux, then nod.

“You haven’t heard about Tavroth have you?”

“Wait...hear what?

John clears his throat. “He was hit by a car...on Thursday.”

“Thursday?” _‘Fuck, I was supposed to go with him.’_ “What happened?”

“He was leaving the park, and someone hit him from behind. They think he was running.”

Your mind is weirdly quiet. You don’t know what to think. Shit.

“Is...is he alive?”

John gasped “Oh shit; you thought he was dead. Sorry Dave, no he’s very much alive. But...he...is sort of...a paraplegic now?”

“I don’t know what that means. Which one is that?”

“It’th where you can’t use your legth, dumbathh.”

“Oh shit." Man. "This is all my fault."

“It’s not your fault. Unless you were driving the car, but you weren’t so...”

Did you say that out loud? Shit.

“I was supposed to go with him Thursday. He went to meet his soulmate, and he needed ‘moral support.’ But I ditched.”

“From what I remember, didn’t your mom pick you and Rothe up? That ithn’t exactly ‘ditching.’”

“Mom? Ew dude. She’s my other sister.”

“Roxy picked you up?” John asks.

“Yea.”

“She never does that.”

“Dirk met his soulmate, and she wanted to celebrate.”

“Oh…

“If I may intrude on this conversation...” Terezi puts her arm around your shoulder. “I don’t think standing here talking about meeting soulmates is going to help little Nitram.”

“Shit, okay. I don’t know how we could help him, per-say.” John crosses his arms. “But we could always visit him after school...”

You think about stepping into a hospital again and shiver. You still haven’t gotten over the time Roxy got alcohol poisoning…

After school, John’s dad picks you, John, Karkat, Sollux, and Terezi up in front of the school. You eye Prospit St. when you pass it. There are a couple groups of students walking down there, and you try to recognize one of them. Music class, anyone from music class? No one.

“So...Dave. Sollux says you can sing,” Terezi elbows your side.

“Yeah...that...is a thing I can do? Why?”

“Sing for us.”

“Nah...”

“Is...Is that...fear I smell?”

“Fear? Nah, I jus’ don’t feel like singin’ right now.” You spot your sister walking down the sidewalk next to your house. Looks like she left early. “Hey, can you pull over Bert?”

“Sure thing,” comes his ‘dad-like’ voice and tone.

You roll down the window, “Rose!” You’re met with raised eyebrows. “No book club?” you ask.

“Unfortunately, no. Our manager seems to be elsewhere. And by elsewhere, I mean she’s currently hanging out with her new music partner, who is highly medicated and seems only to use the words ‘motherfucker’ and ‘motherfuckin’.”

Terezi cackles, “We’re going to see Nitram at the hospital, you wanna join us?”

Rose looks conflicted, and you know why. Usually, she comes home and starts drinking, then sobers up for school the next day. You silently hope she says yes.

“Not today, I’ll take you up on your offer next time though.”

That sucks. You thought she was getting better with all the friends and laughter in her life recently.

“Ya’ sure?” You question.

“Yeah, I have some homework to do.” She gives you an empty look.

“Alright then.” You guys have a shade-to-eye conversation, then the car pulls away, and John and Terezi yell “Bye” out the window multiple times.

You don’t like hospitals, that’s a well-known fact. Rose has stated many many times that there’s nothing bad about hospitals and you shouldn't dislike them. “It could save your life one day,” she once said. You don’t know how your sister is so calm about the fact that Roxy almost fucking died in here once.

You remember those dreadful two months a couple of years ago when the only thing on your family’s mind was if your big sister was doing okay in a white, sterile room. The countless hours spent sitting on the bench outside her room and watching people go on with their lives. Wheelchairs being wheeled down the hall; gurneys with white sheets over them.

Not to mention your parents supposedly died in this hospital, hours after their car crash.

You fucking hate hospitals...but you suck it up and enter regardless.

You let John and Sollux ask the nurses where he is, and they lead the way to a small room on the right.

When you enter, you have to squint, even with your shades on.

“Jesus Christ, how fuckin’ bright do those things have to be?”

John turns off the white lights, leaving only the natural sunlight of the afternoon.

You spend about four hours sitting and talking with Tavbro. Karkat seems to be hanging back more than anyone. He doesn’t even talk. ‘Maybe he doesn’t like hospitals either…’ You know he can talk; he’s not like...mute or anything. You’ve heard him whispering and arguing with Sollux and the “highly medicated dude” Rose was talking about earlier.

‘ _Maybe Vantas...or Karkat just doesn’t like crowds. Maybe that’s why I’ve never heard him sing either. Maybe he's got stage fright? That’s gonna put a damper on our project, isn’t it? Oh well._ ’

“Dude, how did the soulmate thing go? Was it him?”

“Uh...no. Thank god. He was the one who ran me over.”

“Oh shit...damn. That sucks bro.”

“I know. He got away too.”

“That’s bullshit!” Terezi exclaims. “What happened?”

“I think someone in the park...saw...and called the cops. But they were too late...he was already gone.”

“That’s some fucked up shit right there,” John says. “Why didn’t you text any of us? You were gone for like...six days…”

“I was...sort of...uh...unconscious for a couple of days...”

“Well shit,” you say.

“Yeah...I hit my head pretty hard.”

“Well, we’re glad you’re okay now,” John says with a big, bright smile.

 

Unfortunately, John’s dad had to go to some baking convention or some shit, so you’re left to walk home on your own. Terezi calls someone to come get her so she stays behind at the hospital. That leaves you, John, Sollux, and Karkat to wander the streets back towards your homes.

 

After John goes inside, you three continue on walking down the street silently. It starts being ever so slightly suffocating, and you’ve been meaning to ask Sollux about Eridan for a while now anyway; you decide 'fuck it' and start talking.

“So, Captor. I saw that lil’ exchange between you and Ampora...anythin’ you wanna announce? ...Oh, shit is that a blush? Awww.”

“Thut up Thtrider, it’th none of your buthinethh.”

You chuckle, “Defensive much?”

“Yeth, actually.”

“Okay fine...I won’t ask,” you walk a little closer to Karkat. You can only stay quiet for approximately one and a half minutes before you start getting antsy. Instead of crawling in your skin, you begin prodding at Karkat. “So got any ideas about the project? I was thinkin’ a duet, ‘cause I mean...it’s a partner project. Do you sing?”

 

Karkat rolls his eyes and Sollux scoffs, “You’re thtill in a talkative mood aren’t you?”

 

“The silence is like a festering peroxide wound man. I just can’t do it.” Sollux rolls his eyes. “Well anyways, I haven’t heard you sing yet, or are you more of the instrument type? I can totally cover any types of dubstep if that’s what you’re into, or the piano...John taught me a little back in middle school. Unless you want to do the singing and I’ll do the arranging...or the other way around. We can also do some chorograp-”

 

“For the love of God Strider, shut the everloving fuck up and listen! I am not...in...the...mood...to...talk...about...this...or talk about anything for that matter! The project is due in like...what? Two months? Longer even. Don’t worry; we have time. Or are you that illiterate that you can’t read the words ‘end of quarter’ on the board?”

 

Whoa. Did that just happen? Wait. Were those the first words he’s said to you? Karkat Vantas. Karkat...Vantas...

 

His eyes widen a bit, “Fuck.”

 

You feel like you should say something. Anything. What are you supposed to say?

 

“Did’ya know?”

 

“Yeah, I knew.” He pulls up the sleeve of his bulky sweater, revealing pale white skin wrapped around a tiny bone. Printed in your lowercase handwriting are five red words:

 

“sorry shorty just passin through”

 

“ _Fuck_ ,” you hiss.


	10. Soundless Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey three chapters in a row. can I make it to four. ten bucks on this redbull that I can.

So...I guess this is a good time to have a nice, long chat with yourself, huh David Elizabeth Strider? You have just met your soulmate-let me say that again.

 

You, David Elizabeth Strider, have just met your soulmate.

 

Other than the whole existential crisis you went through in the past few months, knowing that your soulmate is actually REAL could probably be the scariest realization.

 

"Well, I mean, yeah he's real. John knew it, Sollux knew it, and apparently, even HE knew it. But like...he’s real. He has a face and a personality and a voice. And he has a name," and you should probably start using it instead of ‘he.’

 

You are Dave Strider, and Karkat Vantas is your soulmate.

 

God that sounds so fuckin’ weird.

 

You should probably tell your family. And John, for that matter. You should...but you don’t want to. You don’t know why you wouldn't want to. They’d all be happy to hear it. It’s not like it’s embarrassing or anything.

You wonder if he-Karkat would mind. Maybe you should talk to him first; ask him if it’s okay. But you really don’t want to.

 

Jesus Christ, Dave. You should make up your goddamn mind. It’s not that hard to do. You’re either gonna do it, or you’re not. Choose.

 

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] started pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 7:57 --

 

TG: so

 

CG: THAT’S IT? JUST...SO?

 

CG: YOURE EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD AT CONVERSATIONS.

 

CG: HAS ANYONE EVER TOLD YOU THAT?

 

TG: im just thinkin about what to say

 

CG: MAYBE YOU SHOULD THINK BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY SAY.

 

CG: THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE DO THAT.

 

TG: well im sorry

 

TG: thats just the way i am

 

TG: kinda trying to make sense of this situation

 

TG: and talking helps me with that

 

TG: anyways

 

CG: IS THERE EVEN A REAL REASON YOU TEXTED ME?

 

TG: yes

 

TG: i have a question

 

TG: here

 

TG: let me think before i say

 

TG: it may tak a while

 

 

TG: take*

 

CG: REALLY?

 

CG: IT’S BEEN FIFTEEN MINUTES STRIDER.

 

CG: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO WORD A QUESTION?

 

TG: at least twenty minutes

 

TG: maybe a little more

 

TG: depends on how pissed you are right now

 

TG: tell me karkat vantas

 

TG: on a scale of one to ten

 

TG: how pissed are you??

 

CG: ...

 

CG: HOLD ON IM CHECKING

 

CG: SORRY BUT I SEEM TO HAVE LOST MY PISSED-O-METER

 

CG: NOW TELL ME

 

TG: ok

 

TG: are you ready???

 

CG: JUST ASK THE FUCKING QUESTION ALREADY!

 

TG: karkat how am i suppose to know youre ready if you dont tell me

 

CG: HOLY MOTHER OF CHRIST...

 

CG: FINE

 

CG: IM FUCKING READY.

 

TG: see now it wasnt that hard

 

CG: ...

 

CG: I HAVE A FEELING THERE WAS NO QUESTION...

 

TG: no there was

 

TG: im still trying to word it

 

CG: IT MUST BE THE MOST CONFUSING QUESTION ON THE PLANET BY HOW LONG ITS TAKING YOU.

 

CG: EITHER THAT OR YOU’RE JUST REALLY DUMB.

 

TG: nah its just hard for me to ask it

 

CG: WHY?

 

TG: ok

 

TG: question incoming

 

TG: jus rip it off like a band aid

 

CG: ...

 

TG: so

 

TG: we are soulmates right

 

TG: god that sounds so fuckin weird

 

TG: ok

 

TG: is it okay if i tell people about us???

 

CG: ...

 

CG: WAS THAT YOUR QUESTION?

 

CG: IT TOOK YOU THAT LONG TO COME UP WITH THAT?

 

CG: *SIGH*

 

CG: YES

 

CG: IT’S YOUR RIGHT TO TELL PEOPLE WHO YOUR SOULMATE IS. I DON’T SEE WHY YOU FELT THE NEED TO ASK ME.

 

TG: well i didnt know if youd be ok with people knowing

 

CG: ITS NOT LIKE I HAD A PROBLEM WITH IT BEFORE...

 

CG: FOR GODS SAKE DAVE, HALF THE FUCKING SCHOOL KNOWS BECAUSE OF EGBERT.

 

TG: oh

 

TG: kay then

 

CG: IS THAT IT?

 

TG: yeah

 

TG: i guess

 

CG: OK THEN,

 

CG: SEE YOU TOMORROW.

 

TG: yea

 

TG: see ya

 

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 8:49 --

 

You find yourself smiling. For a moment, you feel immensely happy. Then it occurs to you why exactly that is. Without a second thought, you wipe the emotion from your face with a physical shake of your head and pick up your phone to get down to business.

 

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] started pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 8:51 --

 

TG: sup john-o

 

TG: i have an announcement

 

EB: yeah, me too.

 

TG: you go first bro

 

EB: ok.

 

EB: look dave, I’m really sorry about the way I acted.

 

EB: like really really sorry.

 

EB: i took my frustrations out on you and i feel really bad. do you think you could forgive me?

 

TG: dude

 

TG: i forgave you like ten hours ago

 

EB: sweet ;B

 

EB: what were you going to announce?

 

TG: i know who my soulmate is

 

EB: :O

 

EB: you and karkat talked?

 

TG: yeah

 

TG: well no

 

TG: we havent really talked about the fact we are soulmates but

 

TG: we talked

 

EB: that’s so exciting!!

 

TG: yeah

 

TG: well now that thats over with

 

TG: wanna hang out tomorrow???

 

TG: you could show me that game you got

 

EB: oh yeah! i haven’t told you about SBURB yet

 

EB: it’s so great!

 

EB: ok well. i’ll see you tomorrow, i’ll bring the game over to your house.

 

TG: k

 

TG: ttyt

 

EB: oh! dave!

 

EB: you should bring karkat too :B

 

TG: you sure???

 

EB: yeah, we’ll have a blast.

 

TG: k goodnight

 

EB: goodnight dave.

 

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 9:07 --

 

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] started pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 9:07 --

 

TG: you are cordially invited to hang out tomorrow with me and egbutt

 

TG: im not sure if its mandatory or not

 

TG: youll have to take that up with john

 

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 9:09 --

 

There, now all you have to do is tell your family...but that’s gunna have to wait until tomorrow; you’re too tired for another round of that shit.

 

You shut down your computer, turn off your lamp, and get comfy under the covers, ready for sleep to take you. Unfortunately, you lay there for what seems like hours before you actually fall asleep.

 

Karkat. Karkat Vantas. With his black curly hair and dark, dark eyes. You glare up at your ceiling, unsure of the tightness in your chest is anxiety or some kind of soulmate tether. With how many times it’s bothered you over the week, you kind of hope its the former.

 

When you finally do enter the blissful arms of sleep, you dream of fog and dark eyes.


End file.
